Tennis Roundup : Evert Edges Mandlikova, Will Play Navratilova for 71st Time

Third-seeded Chris Evert defeated second-seeded Hana Mandlikova, 6-3, 7-5, at Houston Saturday night to advance to the final of a $150,000 Virginia Slims tennis tournament against top-seeded Martina Navratilova.

The meeting between Evert and Navratilova will be their 71st. Navratilova advanced with a 6-1, 7-6 win over Zina Garrison.

Evert said today’s match will be the latest in a “special” series against Navratilova.

“We used to be friendly competitors, now we’re really close friends,” she said. “I don’t feel any pressure when I play her because it’s an upset if I win, and if I lose, that’s expected.”

Navratilova, who holds a 37-33 career edge over Evert, said their meeting could be among the last of their long rivalry.

“Playing Chris is something the people here have been hoping for,” she said. “We probably won’t be playing each other that many more times. It should be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”

At Monaco, unseeded Jimmy Arias and fourth-seeded Mats Wilander won semifinal matches in the $513,000 Monte Carlo Open.

Arias beat Horst Skoff of Austria, 7-5, 6-1, and Wilander defeated fellow Swede Ulf Stenlund, 6-2, 6-2.

Arias, on the comeback trail after ranking as high as fifth in the world in 1984, has dropped to 53rd this year. But he beat two-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker earlier this week on the way to his first Grand Prix final since 1985.

Today’s final brings together Wilander and Arias for only the second time in a tournament. They both were 17-year-olds when Wilander won in a first-round match at the Italian Open in 1982. Arias won the Rome tournament the following year.